Dick Fletcher
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Richard R. "Dick" Fletcher [1] (born September 18, 1942) is a meteorologist who works for WTSP-TV in St. Petersburg, Florida. He holds the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval and has been serving the Tampa Bay Area since 1980. He has flown reconnaissance aircraft missions into three hurricanes and has made 15 different penetrations into the eye of the storm. In 1987, he was honored by The American Meteorological Society with an award for Outstanding Service by a Broadcast Meteorologist. He was presented the distinguished service award by the national hurricane conference in 2003 for his leadership efforts in hurricane preparedness. He also received the Media award from the Florida Governor’s Hurricane conference in 1993. In 2005, he celebrated 25 years working as a meteorologist for WTSP.
Fletcher, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, graduated from the University of Omaha in 1964. He had an early ambition to be a television news broadcaster and started his career in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, working as a news anchor and occasionally doing the weather. In the early 1970s, he began working as a full time meteorologist in Denver, Colorado, and would spend several years in the city. He earned the AMS seal of approval in 1978. Fletcher would go on to work in Corpus Christi and then back at KMTV in Omaha. In 1980, he would leave Omaha and begin his tenure at then ABC affiliate WTSP-TV as chief meteorologist on March 17, 1980. He was widely praised for his leadership during Hurricane Elena in September of 1985 and for popular segments in which he would answer weather questions from viewers, called "Weather Whys". Fletcher also participates in many community events and is a noted publc speaker. He is a former member and chairman (1990-1992) of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
In 1989, Fletcher was nearly replaced by Cincinnati television meteorologist Bob Alan. Thanks to a massive viewer outcry, however, Fletcher retained his position.
On November 24, 2004, Fletcher suffered a stroke at the TV station just before a 4 p.m. news broadcast. Since then, he has repeatedly made public appearances for the cause of stroke survival and prevention.
He lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Cindy, and has three adult children.
